Marriage of Green

Firefighter Timothy Green (defendant) earned retirement benefits both before and during his marriage to Julie Green (plaintiff); during the marriage, he exercised an option to pay for four additional years of retirement credits based on his pre-marriage military service, under a law crediting that service exactly as if he had been in state service during that time. Timothy paid for these additional credits partly using community funds. When Julie filed for dissolution, the trial court ordered reimbursement to her for her portion of the community's payments toward the credits, plus interest; Julie appealed, seeking an actual share of the four years' retirement credit itself rather than mere reimbursement for the payment. The court of appeals reversed the trial court's judgment, and the California Supreme Court granted Timothy's petition for review.